LIBRARY DISCUSSED AT CITY WORKSHOP MEETING

The lobby of Brenham’s City Hall may become a temporary home for the Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library if the current library is renovated and expanded.

Mayor Pro Tem Gloria Nix at the workshop meeting.

Those plans were revealed at a Brenham City Council workshop this (Thursday) morning. City Manager Terry Roberts said when the cost of using the former Boettcher Lumber Company building on Market Street was so out of the ballpark, city staff were forced to think about other solutions, including the use of current city buildings. Roberts said Brenham’s City Hall is much larger than most cities our size, and was originally a bank with a large lobby. That lobby could be put to use as the City Library during the 12 to 18 months of construction work at the current library. Wendy Ragonis, the City’s Administrative Services Director, said only about 6 percent of the library’s 53,000 items are checked out on a consistent basis. Ragonis said there is room in the City’s central warehouse to store the other items during construction, and they would be in a temperature controlled environment.

Council Member Gloria Nix commented that “What goes around, comes around” …pointing out that the library was originally located inside Brenham’s City Hall.